All posts tagged: pouch

Meet the Baby Koala Hiding in Its Mom’s Pouch at a Florida Zoo’s New Outback Habitat

Meet the Baby Koala Hiding in Its Mom’s Pouch at a Florida Zoo’s New Outback Habitat

Published by Sam Flores

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A zoo in Florida has two reasons to celebrate — the first birth of a koala and a newly renovated habitat for the cuddly creatures is opening to the public on Saturday. “For the zoo and for us here, it’s the very big deal,” said Amarylis Celestina, who oversees carnivores and koalas at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society in West Palm Beach, Florida. “We are trying the best that we can to help with a lot of the genetic diversity within the population that we have here in the United States. So that’s why it’s important that we do have a joey and that we were successful this year.” The joey, born to Ellin and Sydney last fall, remains in its mother’s pouch and has just recently started to become visible to zoo officials. They continue to monitor Ellin’s weight, and are providing extra food as she cares for the baby. Meanwhile, the koala population is enjoying a renovated habitat, which include more greenery, new perching for …

Flirty birds inflate throat pouch to attract a mate

Flirty birds inflate throat pouch to attract a mate

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. From butt-loving baboons to peacocking spiders, animals boast an array of flirting techniques. Male frigatebirds attract potential mates by inflating a large, hairless, red throat pouch and shaking their wings like the DJ just started spinning “Yeah!” by Usher. The US Fish and Wildlife Service recently shared a video of the horny avians in action: Shot by USFWS volunteer Dan Rapp on the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, you can see the birds shrieking while expanding their 7- to 8-foot-long wings with enthusiasm. Frigatebirds mating displays occur in large groups, with up to 30 male birds gathering on treetops to catch the eye of females flying above. The female birds typically only mate every other because chick rearing can take 6-18 months, one of the longest durations amongst bird species. Frigatebirds mate monogamously for the season and nest in colonies of up to 100 birds. Their mating performance is considered the most elaborate amongst seabirds.   2025 PopSci Best …

Newborn marsupials seen crawling to mother’s pouch for the first time

Newborn marsupials seen crawling to mother’s pouch for the first time

Published by skeptic

Minuscule marsupial newborns that weigh less than a grain of rice have been filmed crawling towards their mother’s pouch for the first time. Unlike placental mammals, which give birth to much more developed babies, marsupials are born after extremely short gestation periods and must move to a pouch where they attach to a teat and continue to grow. For many of Australia’s rare and small marsupials, this process remains a mystery – even for those species that are kept in captive colonies, says Brandon Menzies at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Menzies and his colleagues maintain a large population of hundreds of fat-tailed dunnarts (Sminthopsis crassicaudata), which are considered to be one of the closest relatives of the extinct Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus). In collaboration with the firm Colossal Biosciences, they hope to one day bring back the Tasmanian tiger, or something resembling it, by gene-editing dunnarts. However, even though the colony was established decades ago and the fertility of the females is closely monitored, no one has ever observed the birth of any pouch …